It was a chilly April day when Ross said goodbye to his wife to go to war. Secession had happened and now South Carolina had succeeded from the United States. The festive air had now passed as weddings were scheduled hastily so brides could be married out of necessity.

At each wedding, Monica held a handkerchief as she sat and heard the couple recite their vows. She fingered the necklace around her neck. Her brother looked over at her sympathetically as he squeezed her hand. Instead of the suits he usually wore, he now wore a gray uniform of the Confederate army. Soon he would leaving Rachel.

Jack kept his word and found Monica a beau. Still in love with Chandler, she kept up appearances and was seen with Jason. Rachel and Ross rejoiced at the fact that Monica was moving on. They knew it was true when they saw the diamond on her finger.

"My sister, I am so happy for you. Jason Whittenfield is such a good man and he loves you so." Rachel smiled when she saw the diamond.

Monica closed herself off in the room when Rachel went to bed. She took out the necklace and clutched it to her bosom. She was fooling herself by saying she didn't love Chandler Bing. She held the picture in her hands that was taken at the wedding. Tears came to her eyes.

"Oh my Chandler, darling, I want to be with you, but right now in this life that is just not possible. You are the man I truly love , but I am a Geller and we are akin to a certain way of life. Why couldn't you just sit on the sideline instead of getting involved in this war? Rachel is right , the way that men think is stupid." She thought.

She took the picture from her bed stand and put it in a chest by her wardrobe. It also contained a box of letters and the necklace that Chandler bought her. In her old age, she would have these to comfort her when she reminisced about her first love. She took Jason's picture and set it on the stand in its place, Then she closed the door and returned to the downstairs. There was a wedding to plan.

Since weddings were the order of the day, they were now seen as casual affairs as brides stood next to their soldier husbands. Still Judy wanted Monica to wear a gown from Paris as Rachel had done. When the gown arrived, Monica tried it on . She saw a vision as she stood in front of the mirror.There was a groom, but it was Chandler's smiling face standing next to her.

The wedding day arrived and Jack took the arm of his only daughter as they walked down the aisle in the grand hall. Ross held Rachel's hand as she began to show under her green gown. It had not taken long at all for Ross to fufill his dream of starting a next generation. While he was at training Rachel, began to feel nauseous and realized the gowns she bought in Paris were a little too tight. She had Missy take in the corsette, but it was no use. Now her flat stomach was gone.

Upon closer examination she sat with a calendar and mentally calculated the days since she had last menstruated. She then went back in her memory to a certain night in Paris and a certain bottle of champagne. This must have been the night she thought.

When he was told, Ross couldn't have been happier.She sat at Monica's wedding with a smile on her face. The memory of her telling Ross, made her grin. Already feeling the effects of her pregnancy, she was unable to stand so long, so a Geller cousin was her second. Monica looked over at her dear friend as she passed down the aisle. She had the look of fear in her eyes. This isn't what she wanted at all.

She did this to please her father. Jason would make a good husband and father, she told herself. Monica had a vacant stare all during the ceremony, her mind and her heart were somewhere else.

Attired in their gray uniforms, Ross and Jason got on their horses and rode off to war. Rachel waved goodbye with a lace hankie in one hand and her hand resting on her stomach. At the moment she said goodbye, she could feel the baby kick as she kissed her husband goodbye. Monica turned a cold cheek to Jason as he leaned down from his mount.

Monica retired to her room. She went to the bottom of her dresser and pulled out the picture of Chandler. She closed the door and locked it. She sat on the bed and stared at the framed picture.

"Stay safe my darling, We shall be together again." she said with tears in her eyes.